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INVOCAVIT, April 4, 2004 |
A PROPER APPROACH TO THE LORD’S SUPPER Finding The Essentials When Change Is Rapid When all seems to be in turmoil in the church, one rightly asks what needs to be retained as change becomes the order of the day. Christians struggle, especially in western countries where societal transition is rampant, to cling to all that’s important in their dissolving heritage. Last Sunday my wife and I attended a large non-denominational mega-church in the Dallas area which claims to have 28,000 members. As we entered the assembly of 10,000 worshippers, I asked for a program from the usher. He said, “We don’t have programs here. We just sort of wing it.” “Wing it” was a good expression for what followed. There was no traditional liturgy, no lessons from Scripture, no prayers in which the congregation participated. There was an hour of high-volume, choir-led praise with occasional choruses sung by the assembly. There was an hour-long riveting and emotional sermon accompanied by occasional shouts of encouragement from the congregation. And there was about a half hour of announcements and prayer offered by various worship leaders. Unstructured as it seemed, ten thousand people fairly “took off” in the spirit, staying for 2 ½ hours. They obviously enjoyed their worship. Changes in the church involve not only worship, however. Moral traditions are questioned as living together before marriage, or having children without ever marrying, becomes more common. Gender roles are changing with large numbers of women serving as pastors in the majority of denominations. Sexual preferences in an age of diversity are increasingly made public, and a major denomination ordained its first openly gay bishop in New Hampshire. Architectural revolutions take place in church buildings as they come to resemble stores in shopping malls or public auditoriums devoid of any Christian symbolism (to make them multi-purpose and to attract those with no Christian backgrounds). Developing emphases on holistic health bring new foci as churches try to recapture some of the early Christian emphasis on spirit, mind and body. Organizational patterns change as denominational strength becomes less important than the vitality of a local congregation. Has any of this happened before, we rightly ask. Were people ever so troubled about what seemed to be so different? It’s worth revisiting the world of the 1520s when Luther’s reformation began to take hold in local congregations and communities. Duke George in Saxony observed that priests were celebrating mass in street clothes, consecrating the sacrament in German, omitting confession, communing children, serving the wine in a common mug. Priests and monks were marrying. Churches were desecrated as images in windows and on altars were destroyed. Priests were dragged out of their churches by force. Duke George’s counterpart across the border, Frederick, observed that things had gone too far too fast. Begging and prostitution were now forbidden, without working out the details for restoration to the community. The common people were excited to frivolity and the consciences of the weak were violated by such transition (Bainton, Here I Stand, 162). How do people of good will determine what is essential when change is too rapid? How do Christians assure that people are edified when new alternatives take place so quickly that many lose their spiritual moorings in the process? Looking To Christ when Compulsion Is Replaced With Freedom Luther returned to Wittenberg at the invitation of the Town Council in March of 1522 and preached a series of sermons to help resolve the confusion taking place among the 2500 residents of the city. His approach in these sermons, and specifically in the one being explored in this sermon, is worth considering as we struggle to make sense of the changes within the church today. Luther chose to address the subject of the Lord’s Supper in Sermons 5-7 because he was a conservative reformer and believed strongly that the Gospel was proclaimed in this sacrament. Although many things stood in the way of a proper appreciation of the sacrament (e.g., the concept of sacrifice, not offering it in both kinds, and the doctrine of trans-substantiation), the extreme changes of the radicals drove him increasingly to insist that the traditional understanding of the eucharist was one of the treasures of the church. How to help the people of Wittenberg preserve this treasure was his challenge. He dealt with this challenge by addressing two problems in ways that observers of the time called sensitive and compassionate (Schwiebert, Luther and His Times, 542). The first was the concern that with so many things being discarded, many were discarding the Supper altogether. Freed now by the new evangelical spirit, there was no longer any compulsion to attend. Furthermore, many questioned attendance at the Supper if they did not feel worthy or if they did not feel a need. Here Luther states that if there is no understanding of one’s guilt, no despair over failure or sin, it may be better not to go because Christ’s treasures belong only to those who are worried about how they stand with God. He changes his mind on this somewhat when, four years later, in the Large Catechism he says that if a person lets a long period of time elapse without desiring the sacrament, he/she is despising it. However, here he is concerned about the importance of one’s motivation. Now that compulsion has been dismissed, does one still understand what it means to be human? What it means to have “leprous flesh which feels nothing though the disease rages and rankles (LC, Fifth Part)”? More important than simply attending the Supper, Luther was concerned that the members at St. Mary’s take a serious look at their fallen humanity. In the Large Catechism, he later puts it succinctly: “If you cannot feel the need, at least believe the Scriptures. They will not lie to you and they know your flesh better than you yourself do (LC, Fifth Part).” The second problem with which Luther dealt in the Sixth Invocavit sermon was that parishioners did not know how to claim what the sacrament offered. If a person had come to grips with the flaws and shortcomings in his/her life, there was no merit to present before the altar. One came in faith, a receiving trust, which laid claim to Christ who stands in our place, has taken all our sins upon him, is eternal satisfaction for our sin, and reconciles us with God the Father! This litany of attributes which defy death, sin, hell and the devil is given only to burdened and hungering souls. However, it is given, freely, generously, amazingly. True Christian faith receives this gift of God with grateful and trembling hands. Through these words, Luther wants to tell those who have become confused because of all the changes which have taken place, tell those who have questioned the need to attend the Supper or, for that matter, their own worthiness, that in this Supper God freely offers Christ and all his benefits to sinners. If we could grasp what it would be like not to have a Savior like Christ, then we also know why the invitation to come to the table is one we cannot pass up. Looking To Christ When Change Surrounds Us Luther’s words have application in our personal lives this Lenten season and in the changes which trouble us in the church today. As we contemplate the meaning of Christ’s suffering and death for us, we remember how personal the Supper is. The Gospel is proclaimed to everyone in a worship setting, but we receive the bread and wine individually. As we do, the “for you” in Jesus’s words used during the distribution become individualized. Regardless of what one thinks of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of Christ,” one has to be moved by his conviction that this was an attempt to bring believers to a personal appreciation of the extent of the Savior’s love for them. In this Lenten season, as we participate in the Eucharist, we once again are called to appreciate that forgiveness is not just for everyone. It is for each of us, you and me. Finally, we can’t help but appreciate Luther’s concern for personalizing the Christian faith. It is the church’s faith, borne by saints and martyrs through the ages. However, if I don’t recognize my shortcomings and reach out with trembling hands for the forgiving love of God in Christ, then it is not my faith. As Luther often says, if you do not believe it, it does not mean that Christ and all his benefits are not offered. In the Supper, whether you approach in faith or not, there is comfort for the sorrowing, healing for the sick, life for the dying, food for the hungry, treasure for the poor and needy! These are the essentials for life itself. Here Christ himself is being offered for us. How can one pass this by? Luther argues as a great theologian and psychologist seeking to motivate people who are no longer under compulsion with the Gospel’s plaintive and comforting voice. Perhaps many of the changes with respect to music and format and dress in worship are not essential. Perhaps some of the new trends and styles and attitudes should be studied with compassion and not be seen as counterproductive to the Gospel. What is essential, however, is Christ and the forgiving love of God we receive through him. What must always be at the center of our gathering is the communion through which God shares himself with frail and broken brothers and sisters, baking them together into one loaf and binding them forever as one servant people. This is our heritage as people of the table. With this humble access we claim what only sinners can possess, the love which is essential for life which lasts as long as change erupts around all of us. Prof. Dr. Dr. David Zersen, President Emeritus |
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